Google Pixel review: Nearly everything you'd want in a flagship phone

Google couldn't have picked a better time to hit reset on its flagship phones. Samsung's Galaxy Note7 is literally burning up in flames, and that's created a gaping hole in the premium Android market. The company's new Pixel and Pixel XL replace the Nexus phones. The names are new and they're positioned as premium phones, but, make no mistake, they still stick to the Nexus mission: to offer the very best and purest experience of Android and Google services that you can get. Which isn't to say the Nexus phones were flawless. The problem with Nexus wasn't bad hardware (last year's 5X and 6P were the best Nexus phones yet) or poor software (stock Android will always be superior to any custom skins), but that they never moved outside of the geek circle: Google barely marketed them, and they never really sold at scale.